Bandai Namco confirms release date for Code Vein and drops a new trailer

Unforgiving 'Dark Souls-ish' action RPG hits this fall

Something to look forward to: Bandai Namco just announced a release date for its upcoming game Code Vein via a new gameplay/story trailer. The previous launch window of 2018 has now been narrowed down and confirmed to September 28 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

The game, directed by Hiroshi Yoshimura of the God Eater series, is set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. The Revenants are a shadow clan of vampires that live in a place appropriately called Vein. The Revenants fight against the thralls of a fallen queen.

Players fill the shoes of a Revenant who, with the help of an AI-controlled companion named Mia Karnstein, hack and slash their way through the queen’s lieutenants collecting blood vials (Blood Beads) with each fallen enemy. The blood can be used to open new abilities and unleash over-powered attacks. Judging by the size of the bosses, players will need a lot of blood, but be careful as too much bloodlust will turn you into one of the mindless ghouls known as "The Lost."

Big weapons, big bosses — many correlations have been drawn between Code Vein and Dark Souls (and Bloodborne to a lesser extent). While the gameplay seen in the trailers certainly does seem a bit reminiscent of previous Bandai Namco offerings, the visual style is not surprisingly closer to God Eater and other anime.

Code Vein will release September 28th on PS4, XB1 and PC! The collector’s edition on PS4 and XB1 includes an exclusive figurine of Mia Karnstein, digital access to the original soundtrack, a digital artbook and an in-game customization set: the insatiable bloodthirst. pic.twitter.com/LFt7tBO3Hs

In an interview with VG247, Yoshimura said the wanted to try the more difficult, slow-paced action RPG style and combine it with the storytelling and visuals of God Eater.

“Yes, [Code Vein] is that… Dark Souls-ish, dungeon action RPG,” he said. “Because I’m the creator of God Eater, there’s a lot of character behind the story … We do have that unique flavor of narrative in there, so we wanted to feature that within the dungeon action RPG genre.”

If you are a fan of anime and liked Dark Souls and Bloodborne, then Code Vein should be right down your alley. A Collector’s Edition for console versions will also be released which includes a figurine of Mia, an original digital soundtrack, a digital artbook, and an in-game customization set.

Even though Bandai Namco's tweet and the English trailer (top) say that Code Vein launches September 28 on all platforms, it is worth mentioning that the Japanese trailer says PS4 and XB1 versions launch on the 27th. This one-day earlier release date might just be for Japan though.